Abstract：China’s National Railway debt is becoming a significant threat to its market-oriented reform and high-quality development. Through an analysis of the debt formation process over the past 17 years， the study reveals the following findings： The accumulation of debt shows the distinct stages. The principal causes of the mounting debt burden include the unresolved substantial historical debt， heavy investment without adequate capital to support， the idiosyncrasies of railway construction investment， and the inadequate management model for the entrusted transportation. Drawing upon the causes of debt formation and the debt risk resolution experiences both domestically and abroad， this paper proposes a phased， categorized， and multi-agent approach to resolving the debt risk in China’s National Railway. To be specific， the allocation of the historical debt should be distributed among the central finance， local finance， and China’s State Railway through the implementation of measures such as policy-driven debt-to-equity swaps， the establishment of special railway funds， and market-oriented pricing. Moreover， all relevant parties should provide the necessary support for effective resolution.
2023, Vol. 22 
